Contents

Background

When he became a genin, he was partnered with Shikaku and Chōza. In the anime, nearing the end of the Third Shinobi World War, his team was assigned to deliver a request for a peace treaty between the Konoha and Iwagakure. Anticipating the Iwa shinobi to turn hostile, the meeting was strategically held at the borderline of the Land of Wind, knowing that the Fourth Kazekage would oversee the meeting should a battle breakout on his own land.[3]

In the anime, Inoichi was placed in charge of interrogating Hanare after she was captured and brought to Konohagakure. After seeing a memory of Kakashi Hatake as a child in her thoughts, he sent her over to him and see if he remembered her as their other methods of interrogation so far had failed.

Personality

Inoichi had a calm and perceptive nature, generally staying calm under pressure. He was also very analytical being able to put together the information he got from his interrogation to aid Shizune in uncovering the secret behind the Six Paths of Pain. He had also been described as having an indulgent and gentlemanly disposition.[1]

Inoichi loved his daughter Ino very much. This sometimes led to him indulging her a great deal, but nonetheless he was proud of her. He firmly believes that Ino will one day become the most prominent member of their clan.[5] The bonds that she has with her friends, as well as her clan's ninjutsu prowess, stating before his death that she has truly blossomed to reflect the meaning of the bush clover that he raised her to symbolise.[6] He was determined to pass on all his knowledge and skill to Ino to make sure she was ready to become head of their clan one day, likewise showing a strong believe in his clan's traditions.[7]

Appearance

Inoichi in Part I.

Inoichi had long ash blond hair reaching into his back, which he wore spiky on top and ending in a long ponytail, blue-green eyes and strong facial features, which included a well defined jaw line. In Part I, Inoichi was seen wearing the standard flak jacket over a black outfit, complete with hand-guards, forehead protector and a sleeveless red haori. In Part II, he wore the standard outfit of the Konoha Interrogation Unit, complete with a long black overcoat. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, he donned the standard uniform of the Konohagakure shinobi.

Abilities

Inoichi, who was the head of the Yamanaka clan, has shown himself to be a highly capable shinobi that could use Water Release. He was known among other villages, as he was recognised by Tenga, who was looking forward to working under his command.

Ninjutsu

Yamanaka Clan Techniques

Inoichi causing the invading shinobi to attack each other.

He was well-versed in all of his clan's secret techniques as witnessed during the Konoha Crush where Inoichi skilfully performed the Mind Body Disturbance Technique, causing the invaders he encountered to fight against their own allies. In the anime, he was also able to use an advanced version of the technique which manipulates the mind of several enemies at once.

He has also shown the ability to communicate telepathically with other people. His skill with telepathic communication was such that he contacted and relayed a message to the entire Allied Shinobi Forces, despite its vast size for twenty seconds even though he stated he could only do it for ten, suffering only a nosebleed and fatigue.

He was also a very skilled sensor-type shinobi, considered the best of his clan.[8]Aoba Yamashiro has praised him, admitting to not being as skilled as him in the area.[9] Using his sensory perception, he could track down targets through by following their chakra trail, as long as their chakra signature stayed the same.[10] Alongside Ao, he could create a wide-ranged detection-type barrier, big enough to cover all battlefields during the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Part I

Chūnin Exams

Inoichi first appeared in the anime alongside his former team-mates during the Chūnin Exam festivals. They were sitting in a bar where Inoichi was being teased for having a daughter instead of a son.

Konoha Crush

Inoichi and his team-mates defend Konoha.

He appeared again during the Konoha Crush, protecting the village together with Shikaku Nara and Chōza Akimichi. He used the Mind Body Disturbance Technique to cause the invading shinobi to fight amongst themselves. Inoichi then said fighting alongside his team-mates Chōza and Shikaku reminded him of old times when they were renown across the nations. Chōza then remarked that they still are.

Interlude

In Naruto's Footsteps: The Friends' Paths

Not long before the start of the joint Chūnin Exams, he teaches Ino a high level technique of their clan, though she is only able to learn the basics of the technique at the time.

As Ino participates in the joint Chūnin Exams, he gets worried. Seeing how inexperienced she is with her clan's techniques, he wishes she focused more on them rather than the medical training she's been getting from the Fifth Hokage. However, Tsunade reveals to him that his daughter's medical training will help her better perform her clan's techniques as she'd gain excellent chakra control from it. Inoichi satisfied by this, states that Ino may yet become the strongest member of their clan.[5]

Part II

Pain's Assault

Inoichi reading Yūdachi's mind.

When Ibiki Morino proved unable to learn anything about Pain from Yūdachi, he called on Inoichi for assistance. He probed Yūdachi's mind, rapidly going through his memories before arriving at the revelation that Pain had requested of Yūdachi: dead bodies. Before he could think further on this, Ino arrived to inform him of Pain's attack on Konoha, and the village was soon afterwards destroyed. Shizune was killed in the chaos by the Human Path and, using the information Shizune had learned before her death, Inoichi realised that Pain was animating dead bodies in a manner similar to his own clan's mental manipulation techniques, thereby meaning the true Pain was in a remote location somewhere relatively close by.

While looking for Pain's real body along with Shikaku and a shinobi from the Hyūga clan, they ran into Naruto Uzumaki. Inoichi asked if Naruto had defeated Pain, to which Naruto answered that it didn't matter and stated that he had found Pain's true body while in Sage Mode. He asked them not to follow him, as he wanted to talk to Pain alone. Inoichi stated angrily that talking didn't solve anything, but, after a brief argument, Shikaku told Inoichi to just let Naruto go, to which Inoichi hesitantly agreed. Inoichi along with the rest of the village, were overjoyed at Naruto's return to the village.

Paradise Life on a Boat

Fourth Shinobi World War: Countdown

In the anime, Inoichi was seen attending the war council meeting that Tsunade called alongside Shikaku. He later attended a private meeting that Tsunade called in her temporary office as they discuss the impending war.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Confrontation

Inoichi and the Intelligence Division.

Inoichi was placed in charge of the Intelligence Division. When Aoba Yamashiro returned from his mission, Inoichi questioned him about his time on the Island Turtle stating that it seemed as though they had a rough time. His first act within the war, was to set up a barrier with Ao with which the Sensor Division could use to monitor the battlefields from headquarters.

He later relayed new information to the members of his division in the fields about the enemy forces travelling underground. After the Alliance realised that the First Division was soon going to be overwhelmed by the enemies' forces, Inoichi relayed the new battle strategy as created by Shikaku to the divisions. He then reported that Shizune had also split up her division equally in order to better attend to the wounded shinobi on each battlefield.

Inoichi and Ao creating the Sensing Water Sphere.

When headquarters needed to get in contact with Darui, Inoichi used a variant of his telepathy by placing his hand on Shikaku's forehead but told him he could not hold the connection for long. Nevertheless, this allows Shikaku himself to telepathically contact Darui, Ino, Shikamaru and Chōji, where he told them of his strategy to seal Kinkaku. After Kinkaku was sealed, Inoichi praised Ino's uses of the Mind Body Switch Technique as her use and release of the technique had increased greatly.

As the night dragged on, Inoichi received reports from multiple divisions that shinobi from the Alliance were being assassinated and that they could not find the enemy. After being asked by Shikaku what the corpses look like, he reports that they all died from external wounds and not from covert methods like poisoning. After receiving a report from the Logistical Support and Medical Division it was revealed that it was in fact members of White Zetsu Army who had transformed into shinobi from the alliance and were killing other shinobi and causing chaos.

Inoichi allowing Shikaku to communicate with ninja on the battlefield.

After Naruto and B were allowed to head to battlefield by A and Tsunade, Inoichi once again used his telepathy to allow Shikaku to converse with the two jinchūriki. He is later contacted by Dodai who asks him to allow Naruto to talk to B and the Eight-Tails. Inoichi then asks Naruto how comes he wasn't with B before patching him through.

Later, in the anime, the Sound Four are also summoned to the battlefield. After Neji, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Chōji seemingly defeat them, the Sound Four and Leaf ninja are struck by a strange technique that has left them in a comatose state. After learning the truth of the technique, that it removes the victims soul and transports it to another location, he explains it can be dispelled like genjutsu, by pouring chakra into the actual technique. However, it has a seal that prevents even Inoichi, equipped with special enhancement tools, from being able to detect or communicate with them. Later, Naruto contacted Inoichi to explain the situation, making Naruto rush to his friends aid. Eventually, Naruto found the barrier and destroyed it, allowing Inoichi to locate Shikamaru and the others and dispel the technique to restore them.

After headquarters received intelligence about the situation on the battlefield with Naruto, B and Tobi, Shikaku asked Inoichi to relay a message to the entire Allied Shinobi Forces in fifteen seconds. Though the other members of the Intelligence Division protested, stating it would put too great a strain on him, Inoichi told Shikaku that what he was asking was ridiculous and he would only give him ten seconds. Contacting the entire alliance, he relayed the message and spurred on the troops to aid Naruto and B. Suffering a nosebleed afterwards, a fatigued Inoichi stated that it seemed he wasn't good at speeches after all and ended up taking twenty seconds instead of ten and apologised.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax

Inoichi realises that they are aiming for HQ.

Later, when the Sensing Water Sphere in HQ became distorted, Inoichi hastily followed through with Shikaku's order to check out the situation. After Shikaku had formulated a strategy during the time Naruto used to chide the opposition, Inoichi enabled Shikaku to communicate this to the entire Alliance. Inoichi later coordinated the various attacks as they attacked Madara, Obito, and the Ten-Tails. As the Ten-Tails reached maturity, Inoichi briefly connected Shikaku with Kakashi until the beast began to attack. The Ten-Tails fired a barrage of Tailed Beast Balls, destroying many locations. This lead Inoichi to wonder whether or not they were attacking the civilians until it is realised that they were aiming for HQ. Knowing there was no escape, Shikaku has Inoichi allow him to give out one last strategy to the Allied Shinobi Forces. Before being killed once the Tailed Beast Ball destroys HQ, Inoichi telepathically said his farewell to Ino, stating how proud of her he is and that he would always be watching over her.

Legacy

Leaving behind a quietly understated legacy, Inoichi was someone that many shinobi in the field of intelligence looked up to greatly because of his renown. For those who were able to witness his skills in person, they were always left in awe, and would aspire to attain his level of skill. Konoha, on a whole, benefited greatly from these skills as even the booby-trapped minds of those unwilling participants stood no chance against his prowess. The shinobi world at large would later come to heavily depend on these skills during the Fourth Shinobi World War where he was responsible for receiving and dispensing crucial information to and from HQ. Above his duties, however, Inoichi shared a close bond with his daughter whom he loved dearly. This would most often translate into him overindulging her, but despite this, Inoichi was proud of his daughter's growth, not only as a kunoichi, but as a person who protected her friends. In this, Inoichi was content that his daughter had truly grown to reflect the meaning of their clan flower symbol: the bush clover.

In Other Media

Movies

Naruto the Movie: Blood Prison

During Naruto's flashback to the members of the village when he was gathering natural energy to enter Sage Mode, Inoichi can be seen amongst the villagers.

Trivia

'Ino' comes from inoshishi (猪), meaning 'boar'. ichi (一) means 'one,' 'first' and is a common ending for boys' names, referring to the first-born son. 'Yamanaka' (山中) means 'among the mountains'. Wild boar are heavily associated with mountains in Japan and are even called the 'whales of the mountains' (山鯨, yamakujira), because of the amount of meat they produce.